A Garden of earthly delight

        Another mostly unheard-of  (to us non-Angelenos)  Los Angeles gem is the Venice Canals.
        The canals run through a neighborhood a few blocks inland from Venice Beach, and they look less like their namesake city than a fairy-tale village.  A warm, sunny fairy tale village  with palm trees.  The homes along the canals alternate in style between ginger-bread house and modern but every one is beautiful.  The houses practically touch and the front yards, if present at all, are tiny but beautifully landscaped with shrubs, palms, and colorful flowers.  Many of the yard trees are hung with Christmas lights all year 'round and some are hung with "tree art":  ornaments of colored glass or small metal sculptures. 
        There's a walkway around the canals and ornate foot-bridges over the water, so you can stroll along and try to decide which house is your favorite.  Mine is one that has an infinity pool where a carport used to be!
          Part of the movie "Valentine's Day"  was filmed at the Venice Canals.   The first time I saw "Valentine's Day"  (panned by critics, but, alas, one of my all -time favorites!)  I wondered if the place with the canals really existed or was just built on a movie lot.  Maria assured me that the canals were a real place and next time I visited Los Angeles she took me there as proof. 
        Wherever my grandbabies are is my favorite place in Los Angeles, but the Venice Canals run a tight second.
        It's just amazing that a person can have kicked around this planet for over half a century and be unaware of some of  the earthly delights to be found here.